Accountant Spotlight: Jeff Maddux at Countsy
Our Accounting Spotlights highlight inspirational leaders in the profession who are making a difference for their clients and community. Know someone who deserves to be featured? Submit a nomination.
In our latest Accountant Spotlight Series, we're thrilled to introduce Jeff Maddux at Countsy. His story is one defined by curiosity, innovation, and team work.
Bringing numbers to life
Jeff Maddux’s first taste of accounting immediately whet his appetite. Enrolling in a course at his local community college, an initial immersion in a virtual environment provided hands-on experience out of the gate. “I loved the mix of structure, problem-solving, and seeing how the financials told the story of a business,” he shares. Bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application, this opportunity to keep the books for a mock business would eventually lead to a full-blown career in accounting.
Following graduation, Jeff was exposed to several different career paths, working in corporate, tax, and audit. Eventually landing in outsourced accounting, he found his passion in serving a diverse portfolio of clients across various industries and projects. Consistently motivated by a blend of challenge and variety, Jeff has become a lifelong student of the profession.
A partner for long-term excellence
Joining Countsy in 2020, Jeff has further extended his affection for working with cutting-edge startups in AI, space, and biotech. Specializing in early-stage, venture-backed businesses, he finds himself drawn to the fast-paced and novel nature of such companies. “Helping them set up their accounting right from the start means fewer headaches down the road and better decision-making from day one,” he explains.
Gaining an intimate knowledge of his client base, Jeff has identified a pattern of common obstacles impacting business growth. Often relying on spreadsheets or email for key processes, disorganized and manual systems pose a foundational error. Running approvals and expense tracking through legacy software, for example, clients often experience a significant drag on efficiency and poor visibility into runway and spend. “These gaps create stress for founders and leave them flying blind when making key decisions,” he asserts. “That’s where we come in.”
Acting as a holistic partner, Jeff and the team at Countsy go beyond solving the immediate issue — they future-proof the accounting stack. “I love taking something messy or manual and making it clean, automated, and scalable,” shares Jeff. Most recently, the firm’s work with Guaranteed Health, a growing healthcare startup, embodies this mission. Having outgrown its previous accounting firm, Guaranteed Health’s systems were fragmented, preventing a clear view into consolidated spend. Targeting this source of stress head-on, Countsy rebuilt NetSuite workflows, integrated Ramp, and implemented centralized reporting, delivering clear, scalable financial visibility and reduced manual tasks across the board.
Better processes for better relationships
Always looking to add value beyond traditional accounting, Jeff has similarly turned to technology to uplevel the playing field. Integrating AI and machine learning into day-to-day processes, embracing the new wave of accounting technology has streamlined client communication and internal workflows alike. “This lets me work faster and more accurately, helping clients move forward efficiently,” he explains.
Extending automation to tools such as NetSuite and Ramp, these benefits permeate the entirety of Countsy’s technology ecosystem. By bringing credit cards, reimbursements, and bill pay into one system, Ramp’s spend management platform integrates such processes in a single place, mitigating costly siloes. “This impact strengthens our relationships and makes us look great for recommending it,” he reflects.
By eliminating much of the manual follow-up, such as missing receipts of unclear charges, Ramp has transformed how work gets done. One of Jeff’s favorite features, the platform’s accounts payable solution auto-populates the description based on the corresponding invoice, with the ability to itemize line items for coding. “These small touches save a lot of time and reduce errors,” he asserts, “I haven’t seen other major tools do that as smoothly.”
Creating transformation through community
Partnering with innovative solutions is intrinsic to Counsty’s philosophy of staying at the forefront of the industry. Through internal collaboration within the company and platform partners such as Ramp, the team has a constant pulse on the latest and greatest accounting news. Gaining a reputation as a thought leader, Countsy brings its unique point of view to the market by maintaining a consistent presence at conferences and seminars.
For Jeff, the endless opportunities presented by automation and AI are especially top of mind. Newsletters such as Jason Staats’ What’s Next for Accounting Tech? keep him up to date on novel solutions with practical applications. “I’m interested in how AI is shifting from hype to utility,” he shares. “As tools like Ramp evolve, we’re getting closer to a world where decisions can be made off live, accurate data.”
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Putting people at the center of growth
As a tried and trusted partner to his clients, Jeff extends the same loyalty, dedication, and curiosity to his professional and personal life. As a dad of two, family is front and center, filling his time off with bike rides to the park, road trips, and endless Lego towers. When he isn’t crunching numbers or stacking Legos, Jeff finds fulfillment in personal growth, having passed the summer cooking steaks, prioritizing fitness, and getting lost in the pages of self-development books.
His constant interest in improvement is the fuel for his success, described by family and friends as curious and calm under pressure. “I’m the person people come to when they need a plan, a system, or someone to troubleshoot life,” he shares. While it’s easy to get lost in the numbers, Jeff’s passion for helping founders scale extends beyond the data. “It’s not just about numbers,” he asserts. “It’s about helping people make their vision real.” The team at Ramp applauds Jeff’s enthusiasm and people-first mentality and is proud to have him as an Accounting Partner.
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